The River
by Spelljammer
Summary: After the end, Jordan left town with some close friends. It's been a long time since those days with Angela Chase, can they be reclaimed? Jordan and Angela story


The River

Summary: After the end, Jordan left town with some close friends. It's been a long time since those days with Angela Chase, can they be reclaimed? (Jordan/Angela story)

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. This is a not for profit work.

Entry 01: Introducing Jordan Catalano

_This whole thing started because I humiliated myself over Angela Chase. We were an item and I messed around with her best friend. To make it up I sent her a completely bogus love letter which she called me out on. She was furious at me but not enough to stop seeing me. That night in my car, it was rather painful hearing her vent her frustration at me. She said she wanted to let go and maybe do something good for herself for once. That she'd only stick around if I would help her work things out between us. Meet her halfway so to speak._

_Only that I didn't want to._

_That whole month I knew I was way in over my head when it came to relationships. Even ones that weren't really relationships. Expectations, demands, the whole pressure of being somebody's everything. Even though seeing Angela laugh and smile makes my life worth living...I was still uneasy at having all my thoughts turn to her, having all my feelings crafted around 'What SHE thinks'. I asked around school. It was really transparent that Angela had no problems with those same emotions over me. It struck me hard at how focused she was on me. Of course, if I just asked her about the subject directly it could have saved me some grief._

_The truth is (and I swear this is the real reason and not some commitment phobe bullshit) I really hated my life in Three Rivers. It was with an intense and morbid passion that I hated waking up to my warmed over life in such an ordinary place. I took it out on people that cared about me and that included Angela too. I tried to be indifferent to what others felt about me, both the good and bad._

_When Shane said he had it with Three Rivers too I remember what Angela was getting at in the car. Doing something good for yourself, for once. Without hesitation I said if he left, I'd go with him. Shane had another friend who wanted to leave and I knew my cousin Spencer also wanted to leave despite being younger than me. So all of us did the whole "Lost Boys" thing and banded together, leaving town without a second thought._

_We all ran to the coast. It was the most fucking awesome road trip I ever had. I didn't have to hold myself in all the time. I laughed. Songs came forth like flowing water. I threw in a hell of a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the past decade and a half in order to make myself happy. A happiness that I never thought I'd reach._

_I just had to drop an innocent like yesterday's trash._

_I think I would do it all over again, if given the choice once more._

_I can hear Spencer giving me a hard time, calling me the master of interpersonal relationships. The little fucker. _

Spencer Fiorello was making breakfast in the apartment loft. It was just a simple pancakes and eggs deal but he crafted it with loving care. The door buzzer rang.

"It's open." he yelled as he poured the instant batter on the griddle. The door open and Shane walked in. "Hey, Shane! Free breakfast?" Spencer asked while watching the pancake batter cook up.

"Wasn't aware that breakfast was being imprisoned."

"Sadly, Aunt Jemima's outcry against the U.S Government landed her in the big house. Uncle Ben and the Cream of Wheat man are making appeals as we speak."Spencer said with an over dramatic sigh. Shane just shook his head and chuckled.

"Always a strange one Spence. Yeah, I'm staying over for breakfast. Is he up yet?"

"No, but I'm thinking of forcing the issue."

"Is he hung over?"

"It's Moving Day, what do you think?" Spencer said with a huff. 'Moving Day' being when they all left their old town for Anaheim, California.

"Christ, is he still not moving forward from that Chase girl?"

"Give him a break Shane, it's down to once a year now."

"I think learning about the complete history of Angela and Jordan of Liberty High on our freaking escape from hell was enough." Shane said as he sat on a stool in the kitchen watching Spencer put the pancakes on a separate plate.

"Anyway, today is special. Today is the day we all ran away and made our lives better than what we had. We all had success and even a little bit of glory so get a grip and celebrate with us."

"Celebrate? Ha! You actually know Jordan right?" Shane said as he helped himself to a plate of potatoes and scrambled eggs. Spencer growled. He did know his own cousin. And it would be an uphill battle.

"Don't be that way, this is like the best day we came up with."

"I agree he would like this day more than his own birthday but I'm not sure if I wanna deal with the same issues over and over again today." Shane said as he stuffed his face. Spencer then got some milk out of the fridge and gave the carton over to Shane who drank out of it.

"And people wonder why I don't talk much."came a very familiar voice. It was Jordan who walked in the kitchen with only sweatpants on. Unfortunately he looked pretty ragged, pale and strung out. He also stank of alcohol.

"Dragon's up. Need to go fetch Saint George."Spencer said dryly.

"Fucking. Bite. Me." Jordan said as he landed on of the kitchen seats with a dull thud. He had a very mean look on his face as he put his face down on the kitchen counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Oh go back to your black hole if you're going be that way, man."Shane said.

"No, stay up and hang yourself out to dry!" Spencer said as he opened the freezer up and got out an already made glass of Bloody Mary complete with a celery sticking out of it. Jordan took it and sipped on it quietly.

"You are St. George." Jordan muttered.

"Hardly." Spencer laughed. Spencer sort of looked like Jordan and had his soft brown hair but had only brown eyes. Compared to Jordan he looked quite normal but then Jordan was able to put entire towns to shame. He was also significantly younger than Jordan but managed to tag along with him to many places. It wouldn't be a stretch to call him Jordan's little brother but the truth was they were cousins with Spencer going to a different school clear across the other side of Three Rivers from Liberty since his parents didn't want him to hang out with Jordan.

Not that Spencer could care less what his very abusive parents thought.

"What's up for today?" Jordan muttered.

"It's a day off. No interviews or rehearsals or anything." Shane said as he wiped his milk face off.

"Why am I up then?" he grunted.

"We were all gonna spend the day together." Spencer said hoping Jordan wouldn't be a flake over already made plans.

"Doing what?"

"Going to the Block at Orange! We already discussed this!!" Spencer whined. Jordan gave a big yawn.

"I feel like shit but I can't really go back to bed now. I'll get dressed."

"Jordan, it's at 2:00."Jordan looked at the microwave clock. The digital read out said 7:45 AM.

"Why am I up then?" he replied blandly. Spencer looked he was going to tear his own hair out.

"You couldn't sleep, Spence made breakfast and we're having a political discussion on the unfair imprisonment of breakfast mascots."Shane said roughly patting Jordan on the back. He gave an unfriendly growl in return.

"I know you feel otherwise, but this is an important day. And I know you could care less for being sentimental, at least to things not Angela related, but it's a good day. So please, try and cheer up." Spencer said. Jordan lifted his head up and looked directly at Spencer.

"I'm fine."

"Ugh! Why are you always like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like the way you are! I swear to god an elephant would be more livelier than you at times!" Jordan snickered a little bit. Shane also laughed a little too. "What?" Spencer said flustered.

"You get all bent out shape and pull out the old drama queen on us over little stuff." Shane replied.

"Wanting to be happy on the happiest anniversary is a big deal." Spencer said now pouting. Then he looked away. "I don't have to answer to Charles and Monica anymore." Whom were Spencer's parents and Jordan's aunt and uncle.

"Look, I know how you feel. As a matter of fact I've been there. Especially since our family is about as friendly as a rabid pitbull. I'm just...I don't know, man." Jordan huffed as he looked real tired slumped over the counter.

"I know I'm a whiny bitch sometimes and I push you to the limit. I know things would be easier if you didn't have to look after me. I also know how much you hurt and how much you miss the way things were at times." Spencer felt bad at making Jordan feel bad.

"Your point?" Jordan asked.

"I think I lost it somewhere." Spencer said now looking rather depressed himself.

"Celebrate good times, come on!" Shane said now eating off of Spencer's plate. Spencer slapped his hand. "Get it together you two! We're not in high school anymore."

"Doesn't automatically mean we can solve all our problems on our own."Spencer said sadly

"Hear, hear!" Jordan said as he raised his almost finished Bloody Mary.

"Let's go rent a movie today. We can make fun of other people's issues for the day." Shane said not wanting a new angst fest to rise up again.

"Yes, let's all go watch a movie before we go shopping!" Spencer said pleading to Jordan. Jordan looked at both his best friend, bandmate and his younger cousin. He felt like he was drowning and his head was in a blender but he also didn't feel like being henpecked today either.

"Fine, whatever." Jordan announced flatly. Spencer threw his fist in the air and let a whoop out. "But I choose the movie." he continued. Spencer deflated a little.

"Alright, but I get to tell people you're spoiled." Spencer said as he ate a mouthful of eggs.

"That's nothing new." Shane said mildly and Jordan kicked him underneath the counter.

_I don't know if I'm just pretending that I have a decent life or if I actually have a decent life. I know I'm happier now than I was at Three Rivers. Spencer for being so uptight and overly emotional is a very good person. Shane is just Shane but aside from Spence he really listens to all my problems. He can just let me be and let me work things out on my own. Spencer usually tries to crowbar my feelings out of me by force. Yeah, super annoying, but there were times that it helped out at lot. He got mad at me for not coming to him about the reading thing. He also blew a fuse over the whole letter incident while Shane just laughed at me and called me a Sad Bastard. There's one more person I guess I should talk about though..._

"Catalano being spoiled or Spencer being spoiled?" came a woman's voice from the door.

"MARIA! It's always good to see you! And we were talking about Jordan, duh!" Spencer said as he darted to the front door and gave Maria a huge hug. She was a beautiful Asian woman who looked to be in her early forties, she wore a full length skirt and denim blouse and sweater and had her long silky hair up in a blue bandana.

_Maria Suzuka. She's the owner of the florist shop where Spencer works between acting jobs. Don't let the looks or chosen profession fool you, she's a known ice bitch and very mean to most people including me. Didn't stop us from screwing around with each other but it's a sort of thing no one talks about least of all Maria herself._

"Of course, you're talking about Catalano. What else could we POSSIBLY talk about other than the center of the earth?" Maria said while rolling her eyes.

"The crust?" Spencer asked.

"You mean Shane?" Maria inquired. Shane had a 'fuck off' look on his face while Spencer gave a snicker. "How's Moving Day so far?" she asked.

"Great." Jordan said simply as he started to chew on the celery stalk.

"He's gonna be like this all day isn't he?" Maria said as she closed the apartment door.

"Nah, we're going to watch a movie and totally rip in to it." Spencer said as he was still hanging on Maria.

"May I suggest Last Days then?" Maria said as she playfully shook Spencer off.

"Trainspotting."Jordan replied quickly.

"That's your response to everything." Maria said agitated.

"Not like I'm twisting your arm off to watch it or something." Jordan said as he sat up looking a little better. A little less sick, but not much. He stood up and stretched out. Maria looked away still in quite a mood. Nothing she hadn't seen before anyway. He started to walk to his room.

"What are you doing now?" Spencer asked.

"Trainspotting. And for the record I'm so more entertaining than an elephant." Jordan said as he slammed the door. Spencer just threw up his hands and looked frustrated.

"It's just Jordan." Shane said. Spencer was still fuming.

"You compared him to an elephant?" Maria asked confused.

_So those are the people I care for. I guess you can even say they're 'top priority'. I didn't get wasted just to mope about the past though. I did something secret yesterday that I didn't tell the guys about. I went to the library. Now, I had this excuse about wanting to go read the old car manuals they had on hand though looking back Spencer would have just been on cloud nine that I went to a library on my own. He's the one that ended up tutoring me and helped me snag my GED. The reason I went there is because I heard that the new edition of the phone books were coming out so..._

Jordan laid on his very messy bed and opened up his cell phone. His hands were shaking as he very carefully dialed the number he wrote down yesterday. The dial tone rung for a few beats.

"Hello, this is Angela. You missed me as I lead a very complicated and busy life. Just give my voicemail a message after the tone." then the beep came.

Jordan kept silent though.

He closed his cell phone and he looked at it as if it were some kind of blasphemous demon. He considered calling again but it was genuine ancient history. If nothing else even just a plain 'sorry' lost its own power a long time ago. There was an angry knocking at the door.

"We're going to Blockbuster soon!" Maria shouted.

"Trainspotting!"

"The Notebook, if you don't get your ass back up, Catalano!"Maria shouted back.

"Oh please don't let her get started on The Notebook!" Spencer could be heard distantly.

"It's just easier if you go with us!" Shane yelled also. Jordan sat up. He decided to do Shane and Spencer a favor today.

_Moving Day or not nothing was more of a drag than Maria's insane crusade against Nicholas Sparks. True to form, there were details that I missed._

Angela Chase had on formal business attire and was wielding a sharp black briefcase. She had a meeting with an important publisher regarding some of her works. Everything was going good for her. She was even going to have lunch with Rickie and Brian afterwards and maybe watch a movie together talking about old times. She opened up her cell phone when it vibrated but no message was left. She then glanced at the caller ID. She noted it and saved it on her cell then closed it. She approached the White Waters publishing house with determination. She walked up the steps of the publishing house and went through the revolving door only to come out on the exact same trip and run off to a bench to the side. She opened the cell and stared at the name on the ID. She looked around and saw the office workers walk to and from the building carrying on their busy lives. Birds were chirping innocently and the sounds of traffic could be also be heard. She took another look at the name on the ID. You think that this was the first time she ever saw a cell phone by the way she was looking at it.

Jordan still had a way of pulling the wrong Jenga blocks of her life, even after all this time.


End file.
